


Book of the Wanderer

by WhenTheSkyDances



Series: Destiny & Dragons [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 14:47:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17830592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheSkyDances/pseuds/WhenTheSkyDances
Summary: A flower plucked too early is given a chance to bloom anew.Alula Bloom is a young Guardian, and one of the last to resurrected by what remains of the Dragons. Having joined the world so late, she has a lot of learning to catch up on and people to get to know, but she has a few other Guardians on her side. Cooper, a Warlock with a personality secured by lock and key, and Silas-5, a veteran Titan with a deep history. However, the three of them still have a ways to go.





	Book of the Wanderer

A bird, colored brilliantly in black, reds, and golds, fluttered over the ground in a mad dance of desperation, eager to earn the eyes of others like itself. Its call rang out like a trilling whistle that bounced through the dense jungle. The simple tune was noisy and far-reaching, adding to the cacophony of birdsong, chirping insects, and raindrops that normally filled the damp air. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Among the noises, however, was one unique to the choir of jungle life. It was low and bubbling, like gurgling water. There was no river nearby, no earthly source for such a sound. It instead came from a beast; its body was pressed low to the massive trunk of a moss-covered tree, its scaly green hide one of perfect camouflage. It looked like a mass of vegetation, with several shades of greens mixed across its body, while great wings resembling ginormous, thick palm-leaves stretched from its back. They moved back and forth, mimicking the movement of the foliage around it, shaking in the soft wind.

 

With a bellowing breath and a rumble, the beast unstuck its wide toes from the surface of the tree and clambered down slowly. Its tail, like a bristly pine tree erupting from its hindquarters, brushed across the ground. With its four legs planted firmly on the moist forest floor, it crept over the ground with slow, measured movements. It parted its beak-like jaws and exposed its tongue, which tasted the air for the scents of the surroundings. It blinked its bright blue eyes slowly and passed its tongue over them to moisten them.

 

It rose up to stand upon its hind legs, its forelimbs tucked by its sides, as it prowled over the ground. Its nostrils flared as it took deep, rumbling breaths. It raised its head high and took a long breath. Its chest rattled with a purr as it fell back down to a crouching position. The tree-like beast shook its wings and tail, creating a sound like wind through grass. It turned its fierce blue eyes deep into the dark of the jungle. Within a blink, a sudden burst of energy filled its body and the beast began to run upon its hind legs with great speed, sprinting through the undergrowth with natural agility. It was leaping over boulders and fallen trees with grace, jumping from tree trunk to tree trunk, over creek and gulley, until the beast erupted through the densest part of the jungle into a small, sunlit glade, where it came to a full stop. Still it stood in shadow, eyes searching the glade.

 

“You are here, little _Joltur-Rah_ ,” The beast whispered in a voice that sounded like running water, whispy and gurgly, as if the intense running had not challenged its breathing. When it stepped into the glade, its eyes squinted in the sunlight. It hummed deep in its chest as it felt the warm sun touch its scales.

 

The beast moved to pace the edge of the trees, sun on side and shadow on the other, watching the center of the glade with narrowed eyes and tense muscles. There was an outcropping of moss-covered rock near the middle, warmed by the sun. With a bit of rump-shaking, it pounced onto the rock in one swift leap. The beast sat upright upon it, hooked claws scoring the surface, while it took in the small fields of flowers that popped up in the broken beams of sunlight. There were orchids of every color, bromeliads mixed throughout, and heliconia hung from the limbs of the trees. It was bright, beautiful, and would soon hold a greatness of an extraordinary breed.

 

“Now, where do your seeds lay? Where shall you sprout, my little _lystra?_ ”

 

It sniffed the air, its eyes closed tightly. The slow winds stirred the leaf-like scales upon its tail. The beast wrapped its body around the stone, the outcropping warming its cool belly. It dipped its nose to the earth by the rock, inhaling the deep aroma of the flowers. Behind that, there was the scent of rot, the scent of death. Sickly sweet, thick with the jungle’s natural perfumes, and nearly undetectable.

 

It was not undetectable for the beast, however. It knew this was where the seeds lay, where once a young, beautiful life once flourished, cut short only by the greed of those who wished to keep the beauty for themselves. The blooming flower was plucked and pruned, and wilted all too quickly.

 

“It is time for you to bloom anew, my _lystra,_ my little flower,” With a hum of elation, it curled up completely upon the rock, appearing as great, green stone, with only the tip of its tail touching the earth. Upon its back were several small bulbs, which opened up like blooming flowers of pink, blue, and yellow, to absorb the sunlight seeping into the jungle glade. “The sun shall comfort, the _Light_ shall create.”  

 

Sunlight beamed overhead, directly unto the back of the beast. Glimmers of light, like glowing motes of dust, became visible near the bulbs. The little motes of Light were absorbed into the bulbs and concentrated into the beast of the body. Its scales shimmered and pulsed with a heartbeat of light. The Light leaked into the ground through the beast’s tail, moving in pulses, lighting up the earth as energy seeped into it. A low humming could be heard throughout the glade, like thunder, but softer. The transference of energy seemed to still the glade. The wind was gone, the birds no longer sang, and the air grew heavy.  

 

“Oh, thine own eyes beheld death as if it were love,” The beast whispered to itself, “Fooled by thy heart that he who felled you was true love.”

 

Where the Light poured into the earth, the grass and moss began to glow and shift, and flowers began to sprout and erupt in the legions in a rapid growth. The glade became rich in bright grasses and flowers, vines seeped from the earth and crawled up the trees. A mound of warm earth rose at the base of the rock, swelling with light and life and the roots of many growing things. Tendrils of flower stems began to spread over the earth, weaving in and out of the topsoil. The sounds of the forest began to fill the glade, as if attracted by the pulsing Light that filled the earth.

 

“Now you shall know love,” The beast raised its head as it felt the collection of Light in the earth reach its peak. It pulsed quicker and stronger, where Light began to seep from the cracks of the earth like silver smoke. A low rumble and a shake and it finally collapsed back into the earth with a wisp of golden dust to become level with the surrounding ground. “ _Bloom_.”

 

The beast pulled its tail from the earth, the bulbs closing upon its back, and it let its head come to rest over the bright, glowing mass of flowers at the foot of the boulder. With a light flutter of its wings, the flowers shifted, revealing the shining silhouette of a woman enshrouded in glowing petals and vines. The golden dust settled over the woman’s form as the beast hummed in delight.

 

“Bloom, my _lystra._ ”

 

The beast beat it wings, forcing a strong gust of wind to sweep over the flowers, and the woman hidden within them. Golden shimmers were cast away, while the petals of the glowing flowers were torn from the blooms, left to float and careen through the air. Shimmering petals fell in a circle around the form of the woman, who was no longer glowing. The vines that covered the woman began to recede and recoil into the ground, revealing the bare form of woman to the beast as if she were curled upon the ground asleep. She did not stir.

 

“Little one,” The beast called softly from overhead, peering down into the mass of vegetation where the woman lay. He could see her olive skin and dark hair, and how her body was draped in a gown of pink. “Bloom, _lystra_.”

 

Dipping its head down, it nudged the woman’s bare shoulder with its massive snout and sniffed at the heady scent of flowers that covered her skin and gown. Something tumbled from her lips, murmured and quiet, and the beast pulled back.

 

With a snort, it nudged her again, a little more forcefully, and quickly recoiled when the woman sat bolt upright. She looked about wildly, her amber eyes wide.

 

“Hello?” Her voice was dry, unused in death. Petals were stuck in her brown hair, which fell to her shoulders, and she gingerly began to pluck them out of her hair. She rubbed the petals between her fingers, admiring the softness. The beast watched her from the boulder, its blue eyes locked onto the woman. It did not move.

 

“My little bloom,” The woman’s head turned quickly in the direction of the voice, panic rising in her body. She searched for the voice, unable to distinguish a speaker among the thick undergrowth, the flowers, and the massive boulder that rested behind her. Paranoia crept into the garden of her mind.

 

“Who’s there?” Her voice ached, as if thorns had torn up her throat. She pulled her hands up to hold her throat in pain. She heard the echo of birdsong in the distance.

 

“I am, of course,” The watery voice called back, bubbling like a creek over round stones. The woman turned in search of the voice, but could not find its source. The glade around her was empty. She tried to stand upon her legs, shaky and unsteady, and one hand came to support her by holding onto the border. It was warm; sunlight had been beaming onto the moss-green surface.

 

The boulder shivered under her hand. The woman recoiled and fell back onto her back, buried once more in a shroud of tall grass and flowers. She had yelped loudly, causing a rough chorus of birds to take flight over the open glade. What she had once thought a boulder now stood before her upon massive legs, with clawed arms and a fanged mouth, but as green as the plants around it. The woman wanted to scream, but her throat resisted her. She began to crawl upon her back, scuttling away from the beast.

 

“Little one, do not fear me,” The creature spoke in a deep tone, soft like a creek over pebbles. It fell onto all four of its clawed feet and it moved slowly towards her. “I am only a friend to you.”

 

“You... You,” The woman stuttered. Her thin pink gown caught upon a root, and it was torn. Her eyes didn’t fall to the tear, but were unable to leave the bright blue eyes of the beast.

 

“I am he, yes,” The beast chuckled, flapping his palm-wings with a soft flutter. He blinked slowly and tilted his head. With a gentle groan, the beast laid down upon his belly, hiding his clawed feet from view.

 

“What are you?” Her voice rippled with fear and she pulled her legs up close to her body. Her arms were now wrapped around her knees, her face half-hidden.

 

“I am an _Herla_ , a dragon, little one.” The beast, the dragon, answered. “More specifically, I am _your_ dragon.”

 

“My… my dragon?”

 

“Yes, of course,” The dragon nodded sagely. “It is as it is meant to be.”

 

The woman let her hands stray, letting them travel over the blooming heads of flowers nearby. Her amber eyes glowed the color of honey in the sunlight.

 

“What is your name?” She plucked the stem of a flower. It was a bright pink, covered in many little blooms that resembled snapping mouths. She twirled the flowers in her hand.

 

“I have no name,” The dragon answered quickly. His tail tip twitched. “You have yet to name me.”

 

The woman looked at the flowers she held in her hands. The pale whites to the pinks of the flowers that bloomed on thin green stalks. “What is this flower called, dragon?”

 

“That, ironically, has come to be known as a Snapdragon,” He tilted his head; his thick tongue slipped out to wet his eyes. The woman recoiled at the sight. “Odd that you would pluck that one.”

 

“Snapdragon,” The woman tested the word on her lips, feeling the sound in her throat. It no longer ached to speak as much, and she was thankful. “It is a pretty flower.”

 

“Not as much as you, my little bloom,” The dragon purred. He was proud of the beauty of his own flower.

 

“If I am your little bloom,” The woman spoke softly, setting a single bloom plucked from the many, behind her ear. “Then you shall be my Snapdragon.”

 

“Snapdragon?” His wings shifted on his back, spread wide to absorb the sunlight, and he cocked his head. He looked at the bulbs upon his back, closed after the revival, and noted how a few were pink like the flower. “I guess it could work.”

 

“You guess?” The woman snorted. “If you don’t like it, pick your own.”

 

“I do like it!” The dragon’s head stuck up indignantly, his eyes wide. His tail swept from one side to the other and he disturbed the restful air in the glade. “I do!”

 

“Alright then, _Snapdragon_ ,” The woman smiled and rose up to her feet, her worries seemingly gone as she realized the dragon was not a threat. How could something that licks its eyes be a threat?

 

“But you are still nameless, little bloom,” Snapdragon commented. “What shall you call yourself, how shall I call you?”

 

The woman, not meeting the dragon’s eyes, took a few soft steps around her and attempted not to tread on any of the tender blooms.

 

“I named you after a flower, so then I shall name myself after one as well,” Her tone was soft as she looked over the many bright colors and shapes of the flowers, but knelt down by a patch of yellow flowers with five petals for every bloom. She let her fingers run over the petals and she inhaled the sweet scent of them. “What are these?”

 

Snapdragon heaved himself up and crept over, careful not to disturb her or the flowers. His blue eyes were the close to the size of the woman’s head, and he blinked them slowly. He sniffed the flowers and sat upon his haunches.

 

“Those are _Alulas_ , a very rare breed of flower,” Snapdragon sniffed them again, burying his snout in the petals. “Do you like them?”

 

“I do,” The woman looked up at the massive creature that now leaned over her and smiled brightly. She stood up and gingerly placed one of her hands on the jaw of Snapdragon, letting her thumb caress the soft scales.  “I think then, that I shall be Alula Bloom.”

 

“Alula Bloom,” Snapdragon purred as he felt Alula place her hand on his scales. He liked his Chosen very much, and it was pleasing that she had come over her fear of him so quickly. “That is befitting of you.”

 

Alula looked over the glade and over the form of her dragon, and she was suddenly bereft with confusion. Why was she here, in the middle of the jungle? Why had she not known her own name? She looked down at her own hands and realized she didn’t even know what she looked like. _Who was she_? Alula’s amber eyes met her dragon’s blue ones.

 

“Snapdragon, why don’t I know anything?” She asked, her voice quiet. “Why did I not know my own name? Why do I not know who I am?”

 

The dragon turned his head just a bit, so that both eyes could meet her’s, and he sighed deeply. Every dragon knew this would come to pass with their _Joltur-Rah_ , that moment of confusion, doubt, and fear. He knew that, once the bliss of revival was weaned, reality would take its hold on their clean minds. Snapdragon was prepared for such an eventuality, but not as much as he’d have liked.

 

“There is a price to the resurrection, Alula,” Snapdragon spoke calmly, shifting on his hind legs while his tail tip twitched behind him. “You forget.”

 

“Resurrection? What do you mean?” Alula’s voice was fraught with panic. Her amber eyes began to tear up and her body shook. Snapdragon shifted to her level and pushed his muzzle into her chest. Her hands instinctively took hold, grasping at leaf-shaped scales.  

 

“You were dead, little bloom.” Snapdragon replied with a soft, somber huff of warm air that fluttered the skirt of her dress, but he quickly lifted his tone to be much more cheery. “Though, through the majesty of _Le-Hrairah_ , you have bloomed once more.”

 

“ _Le-Hrairah_ … What is that?” Her voice trembled; her dragon did not seem bothered by the fact of resurrection. Her grip tightened with nervousness on the scales of his snout, where they alternated in pattern and were colored a deep emerald. She found her eyes tracing the pattern.

 

“Your kind call it the _Traveler_ -” Snapdragon answered her, his voice rumbling into her body with a proud purr. “-It is a great being of Light that created all of the _Herla_ , the dragons, and bestowed many miracles unto your people.” Snapdragon raised his head away from his Alula and turned to expose his back to her. His great palm-wings shook like fronds in a breeze and he smiled as best he could. “I have an idea.”

 

“What are you doing?” Alula watched her dragon duck down and expose his back, his leafy scales fluttering softly. Her hands twisted nervously.

 

“Climb on, my little _lystra_ ,” Snapdragon cooed. “There are many questions you’ll want to ask, I know. But the best I can do for you now is to _show_ you the world. Perhaps it will be easier.”

 

“I should hope… There’s a great many questions.” Alula took a few tentative steps forward, unsure about climbing on to Snapdragon. He was nearly as big as the trees that sprouted into the clouds. He made a short chirping noise in his throat and bobbed his head.

 

“Come along now little one, we’ve not got all day!” Alula smiled at the odd behavior, but was comforted nonetheless. She stepped forward and placed her feet unto the crook of his forelimb, while her hands reached for longer scales near his back. With a great heave, she pulled herself onto his shoulder and then scrambled onto his back.

 

“There you go, Alula Bloom,” Snapdragon cheered. He shivered his scales, settling them back into place. He felt her slide into the divot between his shoulders, where his scales were the smoothest. Her legs hung below, while her hands grasped at loose scales near his collar.

 

The woman found herself smiling while she sat astride his back; there was a relief in feeling how well she fit in the space upon his back. “Are you comfortable?” The dragon asked.

 

“This is where I am meant to be, isn’t it?” Alula asked quietly, the smile on her features growing. Her hands explored the scales upon his back, teasing at the edges that were soft like leaves but stiff like stone. “Upon your back?”

 

“Indeed. As my _Joltur-Rah_ , you will journey this world aloft the _Herla_ ,” Snapdragon hummed with pride. He stood up, lifting his body on to his much larger hind legs, while his wings shifted like branches in order to keep his balance. His tail stuck out behind him like a tree. The dragon’s steps were measured and slow, allowing Alula to the chance to adjust to the movement of his muscles under his scales.

 

“Where are we going?” Alula leaned forward, hoping her voice was not too small compared to the rustling of the leaves and undergrowth around them. “In fact, where are we now?”

 

“We are in the Jungles of Venus, currently,” The dragon explained with a happy chirp in is his watery voice. “We are headed to the Last City, a refuge for our kind.”

 

Alula sat back and thought to herself, pondering over what she knew and what she did not. She knew, to a certain degree, who she was and who the beast she currently sat upon was. The woman did not know the why’s, but Snapdragon had assured they would come later. What she knew now would sustain her, at least until they reached this _Last City._

 

They walked silently for a few hours, Snapdragon’s pace even and measured, while Alula rested. She had laid down across Snapdragon’s back, facing upwards, so that she could watch the treetops as they lumbered past them. She enjoyed watching the sky change colors as the sun san sank. Suddenly, she felt the dragon halt under her. His scales shook and his muscles tensed. Alula quickly sat up and looked around, then looked at her dragon. His eyes were narrowed into black slits, reducing his eyes to a nearly complete blue. He was standing as still as stone.

 

“Snapdragon?” Alula felt a whisper was appropriate, but was unsure as to why. A sense of dread had crept up her spine. “Snapdragon, what it is the matter?”

 

“Alula, whatever you do, _do not fall off_.” Snapdragon’s voice was low and heavy, and he barely spoke above a whisper. He took a few tense steps forward, but Alula could feel how his muscles bunched and tightened underneath her. In the very last second, she gripped his body tightly before the dragon launched himself into a sprint. Compared to the lumbering steps from before, Alula thought his speed to be incredible.

 

It was only seconds before Snapdragon slammed to a halt. Smoke and scorch marks marred the trees and earth around them. Alula cast her eyes over the scene as Snapdragon began to circle the area and take in the horror that now surrounded them.

 

Shining pieces of a copper-colored metal littered the jungle floor, dripping a white liquid from cracks and shattered seams. Snapdragon dipped his head low and sniffed at the remains. He hissed through narrow teeth.

 

“ _Vex_.” The word came out like a curse. His raised his snout and angled his head to see the woman on his back. Her features betrayed her fear and her body trembled slightly. It was obvious something bad had happened here, Alula just didn’t understand what. Her skin crawled at the sight of the mangled forms of metal at her dragon’s feet.

 

The pair stopped near a row of fallen trees, trunks shattered by a massive force. They were coated in a hot, red liquid, and steam coiled up from the rivulets and pools. Snapdragon gave it a sniff, his scales rippling in distaste. It was blood, fresh and boiling.

 

“Something bad happened here, didn’t it, Snapdragon?” Alula asked, her voice swallowing a tremble deep in her throat. The dragon growled, a sound that shook from his chest like a rattle.

 

“Yes. It isn’t safe for us here,” He spoke quietly, and he turned to follow the line of broken trees, into the torn undergrowth and shattered earth. “Dragon’s blood coats the earth.”

 

“We should help,” Alula told him, her hands tightening on the dragon’s scales. “They might need our help if they are hurt.” Snapdragon paused, as if he was weighing his options.

 

“Alright, little one,” He responded, shaking his tense body into a more relaxed posture and his tail rattling like a pine tree. “Let us help them, if we may.”

 

They set off in the direction of the blood trail and torn undergrowth. Each step was lighter than the last, as Snapdragon had to maneuver very carefully to avoid the cooling streaks of blood that coated the ravaged jungle.  The pools of blood got larger and larger as they walked, until finally they found the source of it. Laying in a steaming pool of blood was the crumpled form a massive dragon. It was nearly three times the size of Snapdragon, with bright golden scales striped with blues and greens. The dragon’s two wings were broken at odd angles, snapped by the collision with the trees, and its limbs were cut and bruised. Scales were missing, burned, or broken. Alula looked over the marred body of the dragon and felt tears well in her eyes. She slid down from Snapdragon’s back and walked slowly to the head of the dragon.

 

“You poor thing,” She murmured through tears, her hands covering her mouth, as she approached and kneeled by its massive horned head. Its jaws were parted, revealing pointed silver teeth and a black forked tongue. Air rasped between its jaws as it attempted to breathe, a sound that made Alula’s skin crawl and heart ache in the same breath. “What happened to you?”

 

“She was defeated in battle,” Snapdragon approached from behind, his smaller body barely stacking up to the gargantuan dragon beside him. He dipped his head as he approached the dragon, knowing that it was one which had earned respect many times over. “It is the fate that awaits many of us.”

 

“But she is still alive,” Alula countered, her hand resting softly on the jaw of the dragon. “We could save her! We just need to… We need-”

 

“She is dying, Alula Bloom,” Snapdragon cut her off. He was not one for the sadness of death, as he much more enjoyed the light of jokes and amusement, but he knew when to hold his sense of humor. “There is nothing more we are able to for her but witness.”

 

“She is like you?” Alula asked, allowing herself to hold the dragon much closer to herself. She leaned on to its jaw, her hands softly caressing the scales. “Did she have a person like me?”

 

“Yes. She is an _Herla-Rah_ , like myself,” Snapdragon explained, coiling his body up next to the dying dragon. He looked over the jungle undergrowth nearby, looking for a particular shape that would give away the fate of the dragon’s Chosen. He saw nothing, which was just as unsettling as a corpse. With his own senses, he could not detect the Light of another Chosen, only the fading Light of the dragon.

 

“She had one like you,” Snapdragon concluded, “But it would seem they’ve gone to that dark place, beyond the veil of our own Light.”

 

“He fell… to the Vex…” The dying dragon’s voice was a rasping sound, like garling water, but instead blood bubbled from her throat. Alula jumped back, startled, but quickly moved back to her place by its face. “He is… gone.”

 

Snapdragon rose to his feet once more and moved so that the dragon could see him through glossy green eyes. She struggled to blink and focus on the smaller dragon. She croaked out only one word as she saw him. “ _Herla_ …” Her eye drifted down to see Alula. “And a new Light…”

 

“She is new. My _Joltur-Rah,_ ” Snapdragon responded. The dragon, despite the pain that filled her body, managed to crack a smile on scaled lips.

 

“She will be... _fierce,_ ” The dragon spoke weakly. “I can feel it. You have chosen well, young one. She will be... a Guardian... unlike any other.”

 

“Thank you, Great One,” Snapdragon dipped his head out of respect. She was his elder and his superior, even in death. “I am honored.”

 

“Herla… There is a somewhere you must take her…” She tried to move, but her limbs shook under her weight and she failed to move. “Barulin kept a cache.”

 

“Show me, Great One,” Snapdragon pressed his head to the dragon’s, closing his eyes as they seemed to have a silent moment. They separated a few seconds later. When he opened his eyes, he dipped his head and whispered a word of gratitude.

 

Alula looked at Snapdragon and then back to the dragon she was leaning on. Her body was warm, like sunlight, but shook as if she was freezing. A golden scale fell from her jaw, small and rigid, and Alula plucked it up from the ground and held it gingerly in the palm of her hand.

 

 _It is much like a fallen petal,_ she thought. She held it over her heart. It still carried warmth.

 

“Tell me, Great One, how we shall remember you?” Snapdragon spoke softly, keeping his head close to the other dragon’s. Alula watched them, unsure of her place in the interaction, but she kept one hand on the dying dragon’s jaw.

 

“Lockheart… the Golden,” Her voice sputtered, gasping with each syllable from her broken body. Her tail shifted slightly. “My Guardian… was Barulin the Swift.”

 

Snapdragon dipped his head and pressed his snout to Lockheart’s. The dragon exhaled deeply, her body seeming to shrink as the air left her. Alula could feel that the end was nearing for the dragon.

 

“ _Kivaih yor enle-rah tuk a yol_ ,” Snapdragon whispered. “Return to _Le-Hrairah_. Find Barulin.”

 

And as if a great flame had been lit within Lockheart’s body, she was suddenly consumed in a soft glow of orange light that shined through her scales. Her eyes rolled back and heavy lids fell over them, while her body shivered one last time. Her scales and muscles and bones faded into light. Her physical form dissipated into shining particles, like a thousand fireflies taking flight. In the gentle breeze, the little pieces of what was once the massive dragon drifted up to the treetops and disappeared into starlight. Alula watched as Lockheart drifted away, still holding her single scale to the heart.

 

“So she is gone?” Alula turned to Snapdragon. Her own dragon was staring into the earth where Lockheart had been lying only moments before. It showed signs of her presence: flattened vegetation, shed scales, and now-cold blood.

 

“Her body has gone, little one,” He dug through the vegetation with a keen eyes. With a snort, he looked back over to his Guardian. “Come here.”

 

Alula stood quickly and hurried over to him, where the dragon directed her attention to a shining object at his feet. It was small, shaped like an egg, and glowed as if a bright fire burned within it. Alula stooped to pick it up, cradling the small object in one hand.

 

“What is it?” Alula asked, turning the jewel-like object over in her grasp. It was warm and smooth. Snapdragon crouched down, bringing himself lower to the ground so that he could usher the woman on to his back.

 

“That is Lockheart’s _enle-rah_ , her heartstone,” Snapdragon spoke with a lighter tone, as if he had not just watched a dragon pass moments earlier. Alula clambered onto his back with more ease than she had the first time. “It contains all she is: her memories, her thoughts, her feelings. That _is_ Lockheart.”

 

“We must keep her safe,” Alula proclaimed, holding the heartstone close to herself. Snapdragon stood and began to walk. His wings rattled.

 

“Indeed, we must,” He agreed, a smile on his scaled lips. “We must protect her enle-rah, but to do so, we must find gear for you: weapons and armor.”

 

“She said… She Barulin had a cache?”

 

“Yes, and she was kind enough to show me where it is hidden,” Snapdragon added cheerily, “And it is in a most beautiful location.”

 

“It is where we are going?” Alula asked as the dragon began to take long, gliding strides over the jungles’ dense terrain.

 

“It is as Lockheart requested,” Snapdragon clambered over a fallen tree, his body nimble in the thick branches and vines. “We head towards our fortune, towards our future.”

 

“We head towards destiny,” Alula added quietly.

 

Snapdragon paused for a second, then chuckled lightly.

 

“Yes, towards _destiny_.”

 


End file.
